Sandy Shanks
Gold Member
- Jul 10, 2018
- 3,550
- 1,025
Yes, you read that thread title correctly. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) joins many other Republican lawmakers standing behind the President's national emergency declaration which bypasses Congress for the funding of his wall. Of course, Scalise did not put it that way, but, cutting through the political B.S., that is the effect of his statement and the voting of House Republicans.
First, some background; we must go back to Feb. 15. Trump signed a spending and border security plan into law to keep the government running through Sept. 30. Ending one controversy he started, he immediately started another one, this time a Constitutional crisis. He declared a national emergency to re-purpose funds from other parts of the government, primarily the defense department, to build his proposed border wall without Congressional approval. He hopes to create a pool of $8 billion to use for his wall, because the bill he signed specifically denied any funds for a wall.
With that as a backdrop, we move to today. The House of Representatives passed a resolution to terminate Trump's emergency declaration to build a wall on our southern border. The vote was 245-182, as thirteen Republicans voted with the Democrats to pass the measure. The Republican-led Senate is likely to pass the resolution.
Now we come to Scalise and his statement. "When you see the vote today, there will be nowhere near the votes to override a veto. This is clearly one of those cases where the President can declare an emergency and he has because there is a crisis at the border and he's working to keep our country safe," Scalise said ahead of the House vote.
Please note, he did not say anything about building a wall or a barrier. He mentioned the President's authority to declare a national emergency, to which no one is denying. Then he described the decades old problem at our southern border.
"Democrats were silent there [Obama's use of national emergency] but all of the sudden when it comes to the national security of this country - which is a constitutional responsibility of the president to keep our country safe - when the President is standing up and taking legal action to do it now all of the sudden they're wondering if it's allowed," he continued.
No they are not. The Democrats are not questioning the authority of the President to declare a national emergency. They, along with many others, including former senior security officials of both parties, are questioning the existence of the emergency. Democrats time and time again have voted for billions of dollars for border security. The last time was Feb. 15. Once again, there is no mention of a wall or barrier which was Trump's entire reasoning for declaring a national emergency in the first place.
Again, cutting through all of Scalise's political B.S., that is all beside the point. This is the point. The power of the purse is vested in Congress as laid down in the Constitution in Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 and Article I, Section 8, Clause 1.
Trump was denied funds for his wall by Congress, and now is attempting to gather up $8B for his wall, using funds Congress has already appropriated for other purposes. As stated in our Constitution, twice, Congress appropriates, not the executive branch.
The Republican whip -- without daring to mention the words "wall" or "barrier" -- told us that he has enough votes in the House to prevent overriding the President's veto.
In other words, Scalise is saying there are enough Republican votes in the House to uphold Trump's decision to weaken the power of Congress! He is proud to hand this expanded power of the executive branch over to a future liberal President as a consequence of the precedence he and other Republicans are setting!
First, some background; we must go back to Feb. 15. Trump signed a spending and border security plan into law to keep the government running through Sept. 30. Ending one controversy he started, he immediately started another one, this time a Constitutional crisis. He declared a national emergency to re-purpose funds from other parts of the government, primarily the defense department, to build his proposed border wall without Congressional approval. He hopes to create a pool of $8 billion to use for his wall, because the bill he signed specifically denied any funds for a wall.
With that as a backdrop, we move to today. The House of Representatives passed a resolution to terminate Trump's emergency declaration to build a wall on our southern border. The vote was 245-182, as thirteen Republicans voted with the Democrats to pass the measure. The Republican-led Senate is likely to pass the resolution.
Now we come to Scalise and his statement. "When you see the vote today, there will be nowhere near the votes to override a veto. This is clearly one of those cases where the President can declare an emergency and he has because there is a crisis at the border and he's working to keep our country safe," Scalise said ahead of the House vote.
Please note, he did not say anything about building a wall or a barrier. He mentioned the President's authority to declare a national emergency, to which no one is denying. Then he described the decades old problem at our southern border.
"Democrats were silent there [Obama's use of national emergency] but all of the sudden when it comes to the national security of this country - which is a constitutional responsibility of the president to keep our country safe - when the President is standing up and taking legal action to do it now all of the sudden they're wondering if it's allowed," he continued.
No they are not. The Democrats are not questioning the authority of the President to declare a national emergency. They, along with many others, including former senior security officials of both parties, are questioning the existence of the emergency. Democrats time and time again have voted for billions of dollars for border security. The last time was Feb. 15. Once again, there is no mention of a wall or barrier which was Trump's entire reasoning for declaring a national emergency in the first place.
Again, cutting through all of Scalise's political B.S., that is all beside the point. This is the point. The power of the purse is vested in Congress as laid down in the Constitution in Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 and Article I, Section 8, Clause 1.
Trump was denied funds for his wall by Congress, and now is attempting to gather up $8B for his wall, using funds Congress has already appropriated for other purposes. As stated in our Constitution, twice, Congress appropriates, not the executive branch.
The Republican whip -- without daring to mention the words "wall" or "barrier" -- told us that he has enough votes in the House to prevent overriding the President's veto.
In other words, Scalise is saying there are enough Republican votes in the House to uphold Trump's decision to weaken the power of Congress! He is proud to hand this expanded power of the executive branch over to a future liberal President as a consequence of the precedence he and other Republicans are setting!
